Emily Parke Chase
Welcome back for the third in our series of Advent devotionals on the theme of God’s ‘I WILL’ promises. The other evening a young woman visited our apartment, and as she and I talked, we each shared how we had just completed our Christmas shopping. It wasn’t even December, but our gifts were bought, wrapped …
Read More Advent 2018 – Day 3Today is the second in our series of Advent devotionals on the theme, God’s ‘I WILL’ promises. I am glad you returned! Have you ever given your word that you would do something? Last year I said that I would help with an ESL class, but when the Fall arrived, I was experiencing intense back …
Read More Advent 2018 – Day 2Each year for over three decades, our family has celebrated a season called Advent. We follow a devotional theme every day for the 24 days leading up to Christmas. Please join us in this latest journey here at my website! Advent is about waiting for things about to come; it looks to the future. With …
Read More Advent 2018 – Day 1Sometimes, late at night when sleep escapes me and when my eyes tire of reading, I slip out to the living room and turn on the television. There, in the wee hours of the morning, I find familiar friends from decades ago. Old episodes of MASH, Gomer Pyle, and Andy Griffith bring back memories of …
Read More FingerprintsThis morning I woke up at 4:00 a.m. After an hour of tossing this way and that, I pummeled my pillow one last time and gave up trying to go back to sleep. I felt like a grouchy bear coming out of hibernation. I reasoned I could at least use this early hour to pray …
Read More Awake, my soul!Thwunk! The curious grey squirrel investigating our roof fell into the depths of our chimney. I heard the desperate scrabble of frantic paws seeking escape. Yet when I opened the chimney damper, our guest refused to escape. The squirrel cowered in darkness and cold rather than trust my offer of freedom. If he continued to …
Read More Trapped?When my daughter flew to Florida for a week of work on NASA’s solar probe (parkersolarprobe.jhuapl.edu), my husband and I went to Maryland to help out with the grandchildren. Three young boys can exhaust two old grandparents, but we had a lot of fun with trips to the library, restaurant, community center, and pool, plus …
Read More What’s in a name?Spring is arriving late in the northeast this year. As our local weatherman said halfway through April, “Today is tax day and Old Man Winter has filed for an extension!” How appropriate that I have been studying the book of Ruth and the story of how this brave young woman went out to glean during …
Read More Hope is alive!A frigid wind is blowing outside. It’s a good day to stay indoors and meditate on John 3:8: “Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” As I look out my window and …
Read More WindblownWatch out! I am grouchy today. Normally I don’t mind doing my daily exercises and walking for recovery from my spinal surgery, but today I had to force myself to do these. On ordinary days, I don’t mind fixing meals and doing laundry, but today I found them exhausting. I even got annoyed waiting five …
Read More Grouchy Grinch